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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Much like Stargazer, I've been thinking about this project for a long time (almost a year and a half). About two weeks ago, my sister "convinced" me with the argument that if it's been on my mind for more than a year, then I should buy it now and not delay. So I did!

The pattern is called Spirit of the Southwest by Susan Portra. It's not a cross stitch design, but needlepoint. This would be my first one and I didn't pick an easy one to work on. I heard this project is targeted for intermediate level, but the instructions are very clear so anyone can follow them. Even thought I'm only a beginner I couldn't stop myself from getting it anyways, I figured I should be able to follow the instructions if they are that clear (until I saw the instructions o.O, super complex but very precise).

There are six colorways for this design, I decided long ago that I wanted to use the Deep Blue Sea colorway ( I love blue!). The materials were delivered to my house very fast (only had to wait 5 days). I ordered the pattern, thread pack and canvas from Westend Embroidery (only place I could find that had the pattern). And since I've never done any needlepoint, I didn't have any of the materials I would need to work so I ordered those as well.

Here is the pattern booklet and thread pack.

I also got tapestry needles (I found out when I got the pattern that it's the wrong needle size :(, will have to get some here) and a Trolley Needle. The last one will be very useful for laying thread. I've never used a laying tool, but this looks like it will be very practical, it just hooks to your index finger.

I finally got the canvas and stretcher bars yesterday (a week after getting the first package).

Here's a picture of what's inside. I didn't want to take out the canvas until I was ready to work on it. The stretcher bars are from Siesta. I've never used them before so I will see how it goes. I still need to get some thumb tacks or a good stapler to attach the canvas to the stretcher bars.

Now, when will I actually start working on this, I can't say. So far I've been getting a lot done on Castle in the Air and with Bramble and the Rose, I'm currently at 4 WIPs. I'm thinking I should finish one of those before I pick up Spirit of the Southwest. Let's see how well I stick to that plan ;)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Update (a few minutes later): I just noticed that there was a mistake in the chart for part 18. There should be a diamond of white between the two green diamonds. This isn't the first mistake I noticed in this part. The back-stitched flowers on each corners of the outer diamonds were also incorrectly charted.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

After almost 3 month of inactivity, I finally went back to working on it. I'm kind of having trouble with this project. I love how the end result looks like, but all these small little details and the constant threading and cutting is starting to get annoying. This does not bode well for me if I want to try my hand at one of Chatelaine's designs.

Here is part 16:

Now I have to decide: Do I keep going on this or take a break and work on Bramble and the Rose?

Friday, May 10, 2013

Finally, a visible TUSAL. There is still some invisible thread below it but there will be no more of those :) ... at least until the next project that requires beading. The thread on top is the from the purple thread I picked for Bramble and the Rose.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

This will be my new travelling mate from now on. My sister had bought one from Artbox and I loved it because it has two different compartments, plus it's metal so I can put a magnet in there to hold needles :) I ended up buying 2 (but my mom took the other one lol).

One of the places I was planning on going to was the Dongdaemun Shopping Complex. I lucked out in my findings. I bought patterns from one (the flower panels were 2500 won each ^_^ which amounts to around 2.50 CAD super cheap).

DMC thread for my sister (but I will get them eventually :D), new scissors, thread winders made from wood and various other tidbits.

I found this as well. Good thing about it is I should be able to make it by hand. So refreshing to find something that doesn't need a sewing machine to make :) I also bought fabric for it.

We went to a Cath Kidston store and I bought a needle book from there (a little on the expensive side thought). I also finally found spring tension hoops.

Now these are my favorite new stash acquisition. When I saw them I absolutely had to have them. It's a pin cushion, thread winder and scissor case. They are all both hand embroidered and hand made. They can be found in the usual tourist areas (I got these from Anguk) and I even found a workshop that offered courses to learn how to make them (I didn't have enough time for it thought). I also found these "scissor fobs" or at least that's how I will use them. I got the one currently on the scissors from the Dong-Lim Knot Museum, it's absolutely gorgeous.

Since I couldn't take the workshop due to time, I decided to find the next best thing: books. It will take time to read because they're both in Korean. The first book covers Korean traditional embroidery (with images yay!) and the second (an unplanned purchase) is one of Kazuko aoki's who is a known Japanese embroiderer.

That's it for cross stitch stash, moving on to crochet stash. I did a little research before my trip for any interesting shops to visit and found Banul. This place is awesome, check out the link for pictures. This location also has a cafe, which is great for my sister (who is not into crochet at all) to sit and rest while I shopped. I got more books, in Japanese this time. They make the best crochet books! One on doilies and the other on crocheted accessories. From the same place I got a Clover magnetic chart marker and the pink ball of thread. The rest of the threads I got from another small shop I found by accident in the subway tunnels.

Now since Korea is the land of everything that is cute, here are just some of the other things I bought from there. Only some because the rest were either gifts or "confiscated" by my mom cause they were so cute lol.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Finally back home :) It was amazing (if you don't take into account the long plane ride) and I brought so much stash from there, as well as some very cute none stitchy items. If you didn't know this, Korea is the land of all that is cute and pretty. Pictures coming up in the next post.

Now although I did take Bramble and the Rose with me, I didn't actually get any stitching done except for on the plane. And even then I didn't get that much done. I only stitched on the flights between Montreal and Vancouver.

Here is my very small update with my brand new scissors and "scissor fob" (more details on both of these in the next post)

Now in terms of other projects, the TW SAL on The Stitchalong has begun and I was planning on starting Peacock Tapestry. Unfortunately that won't be happening because that would take me to 5 ongoing projects. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot (and one of those projects is pretty small), but Peacock Tapestry looks like it would be a VERY complicated project and would require focus. There is another SAL for Peacock Tapestry that is planned for June of 2014, so I'll put it on the back burner for now (unless I finish Castle in the Air before then).